Can anyone give a reasonable explanation for her win for as Best Supporting Actress for her role in My Cousin Vinny? I finally saw the movie yesterday afternoon and while I enjoyed it for what it was, I’m at a loss how it could have been nominated for any kind of award, let alone how it won one. I know the commitee gives Oscars for reasons other than their true purpose sometimes, like making up for a snub in a previous year or to give some form of token acknowledgement like Halle Berry’s win for Monster’s Ball so maybe that was the case here as well? Or was it just a moment of collective stupidity?
I like Tormei but there is no way in hell she deserved that statuette.
Tomei was the only American actress nominated that year. The rest were accomplished English actresses. Politics, pure and simple.
The only reason Halle won was for her last five minutes onscreen in Monster’s Ball, and her reaction to discovering her boyfriend was responsible for her husband’s execution. People talk abut the sex scene as if that were the most powerful part of that movie when it was really how she came unglued emotionally and pulled herself together again for … love…? Security? Whichever. The last five minutes capped a solid performance.
It’s funny about Halle Berry’s win for Monster’s Ball. At the time I thought she was a certainty - she struck me as 100% real, the scenes with the son were just agonising viewing, and her conversation with the father was beautifully done, I would have bet my life (well left nut at least) on her winning. Everything since has made it seem like a fluke or a joke.
Marisa Tomei at least managed another Oscar nomination in a dramatic role for In The Bedroom and she was very good.
This thread wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the rumour that Jack Palance, the presenter, was drunk and read out the wrong name. Yes, it’s bullshit, but it’s amusing bullshit.
Berry has said in a number of interviews she’s going for the money while she’s young… Hence, Storm in X-Men, Jinx in Die Another Day, Catwoman, Gothika… etc.
I find that the only time Halle can give a decent dramatic performance with any depth is when she’s cast as the long-suffering woman in a fucked up relationship. (Introducing Dorothy Dandrige, Why Do Fools Fall In Love, Monster’s Ball) My assumption is that while she’s not that great an actress, she’s apparently really, really good at tapping into her personal experiences with men for method acting.
I meant to ask this in the previous post but forgot:
Now knowing how she won, can anyone explain how she was ever nominated in the first place? I’m really not trying to come down on her or anything but, really, it was an average portrayal of an average character in an average movie. Was 1991 that unspectacular a year for movies?
This Oscar website summarizes the nominations and winners that year nicely. I am reminded that Judy Davis was the favored nominee to win if not for Woody Allen scandalous affair with Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn at the same time. I remember thinking at the time it should go to Vanessa Redgrave.
Also, Miranda Richardson wasn’t nominated for her part as the IRA assassin Jude in The Crying Game, nor was Angela Basset nominated for her role as *Malcolm X’s * wife Betty Shabazz. All in all, a strange year for that category.
It’s your opinion. I disagree. It was a delightful comedic performance and it is true that comedy isn’t easy. I was surprised she won too, but happy about it. I figure that the other 4 nominees, powerhouses all, had to have cancelled each other out with votes split among them, and Marisa just got a few more than any one of them. Majority rules, even if by one vote.
You must not watch many movies, if you’ve never heard of Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, or Judy Davis. (I’m assuming that Vanessa Redgrave is the one you have heard of).
“token acknowledgement” my ass.
Tomei is a very talented actress who put on a hilarious and charming performance. Many seem to think comedy is somehow less deserving of respect than drama; fortunately the Oscar voters don’t see it that way.
Plus Tomei was pretty much unkown before My Cousin Vinny. So to come out that strong was a suprise. The other films
Husbands and Wives (Judy Davis)
Enchanted April (Joan Plowright)
Howards End (Vanessa Redgrave)
Damage (Miranda Richardson)
are the sort of films that either win big, like best picture or best actor, or they don’t win at all.
My best guess: the four “serious” actresses (Redgrave, Plowright, Davis & Richardson) split the vote of the art-minded crowd, and left a plurality to elect Marisa Tomei.
Moreover, my guess is that very few people had actually SEEN the movies for which the four serious actresses appeared, while millions had seen the lightweight (but enjoyable) comedy “My Cousin Vinny.”
People win Oscars for middling movies all the time. Personally, I think Tomei’s Oscar was far more deserved than Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt’s duel win for As Good as it Gets, which IMO was total dreck. My Cousin Vinny was way better than that movie.
I thought My Cousin Vinny was a mediocre movie. I also thought that Marissa Tomei was hilarious in it. I was so impressed with her performance, I went back to the theater and saw it again, and I dragged some friends with me the second time. “This movie is only okay,” I told them, “but you gotta see it for this one character.”
I don’t think I saw the other movies nominated for actress that year, so I can’t say she definitely deserved the Oscar more than the other nominees. On the other hand, I’m not outraged or baffled either. My 2 cents.
One other thought: voters seem to take VERY different approaches in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories (as Lauren Bacall could tell you!).
Best Supporting Actor usually goes to an elderly, veteran actor who has never won an award before. James Coburn, Jack Palance, Don Ameche and George Burns are just a few of the winners who come to mind. Hence, I have a feeling that Peter O’Toole is likely to win Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Priam in “Troy”- not because he was so great, but because Best Supporting Actor is seen as a kind of “Oops” award. It’s a way to telling a veteran actor “We know you should have won an Oscar before, but here’s a consolation prize.”
Best Supporting Actress, on the other hand, tends to go to a young actress who’s perceived as an up-and-coming star. Angelina Jolie is one such example.
If Joan Plowright were a male, she’d have received Best Supporting Actor- but since she was a woman, she lost to a younger starlet.
Much as Coldplay’s “Clocks” captured the Grammy for Record of the Year likely because it stood out against the other four nominated songs, which were all in the rap/R&B mold.